The present invention relates to nighttime operation of weapon systems and, in particular, it concerns a system and method for improving nighttime visual awareness of a pilot flying an aircraft carrying at least one air-to-air missile
Although certain modern aircraft are equipped with sophisticated night-vision equipment, many aircraft are not. Much of the aircraft instrumentation and weapon systems function well in dark conditions, but the lack of intuitive visual stimulus to the pilot or other crew members hampers their effective operation in various respects.
One particular problem relating to nighttime air-to-air combat is verification of targets. Radar systems and other target acquisition systems do not depend upon light, and can therefore acquire targets in zero lighting conditions, thereby allowing an air-to-air missile to be locked-on so as to track a target. Prior to firing, however, it is essential that the pilot verify the identity of the target to avoid firing at false targets or friendly forces. This verification is very problematic under poor lighting conditions, frequently leaving the pilot staring out into the darkness in the vain hope of catching a sufficiently clear momentary glimpse of the target to verify the target identity.
In the field of remote controlled bombs, it is known to provide a display onboard an aircraft which displays a video image from an imaging sensor mounted on the bomb relayed back to the aircraft by wireless communication. An operator on the aircraft can then steer the bomb remotely towards the target. An example of such a system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,931,874. Such display systems, however, are only available for remote controlled devices and have not been used to display images of automatically acquired targets prior to launch. Furthermore, the head-down video display of remote controlled bombs is divorced from the geometrical frame of reference of the aircraft, thereby rendering the images counterintuitive for a pilot to interpret, and possibly even disorienting.
In order to render tracking reliability more robust against various countermeasures, most modem air-to-air missiles apply image-processing-based tracking algorithms on images derived from a high-sensitivity gimbaled imaging sensor sensitive to infrared radiation. The imaging sensor generally has a very narrow field of view, typically spanning no more than about 6° at most. Conventional systems do not employ the imaging sensor output for visual display to a pilot.
There is therefore a need for a system and method for facilitating verification of automatically-acquired targets or provide other night-vision functionality during nighttime air-to-air combat. It would also be valuable to provide a system and method which would improve situational awareness for a pilot viewing images derived from a missile-based imaging sensor.